ABC NEWS CLOSE-UP: THE MONASTERY (TV)

Summary

One in this occasional documentary series presented by ABC News. This edition, reported by Marshall Frady, examines the monastic lifestyle at the St. Joseph's Trappist monastery in Massachusetts. Topics discussed include the following, among others: the meaning of the monastery for the monks; the eclectic mix of people who live there; the scary, life-changing decision to make vows; the various incidents in people's lives that brought them to the monastery; the way to accept the idea of surrendering one's life to the monastery; the "higher calling" of a monk, which is different from other religious or social callings; the monastery's daily schedule; the monks' self-sufficiency; the average day in the life of a monk; changes in the monastic lifestyle over the years; the value of celibacy; the fact that everyone at the monastery is seeking unity in different ways; whether they ever second-guess their own religious beliefs; the reason that monks do not rejoin society after spending years at the monastery; and the difficulty for a monk to grasp, upon reaching a certain age, that the rest of his life will be spent in the monastery. Commercials deleted.

Preservation of the Post–World War II American Television Documentary Collection is supported in part by a Federal Save America’s Treasures grant administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: August 20, 1981 Thursday 9:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:15:02
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T84:0196
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Monks; Monasteries; Massachusetts
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1973-1988
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Pamela Hill … Executive Producer
• Richard Richter … Senior Producer
• Helen Whitney … Producer, Director, Writer
• Peggy Brim … Associate Producer
• Marshall Frady … Reporter